CEATEC 2008: Panasonic 3D Blu-ray

Today at CEATEC Japan, Panasonic unveiled the first public demonstrations of their groundbreaking 3D Blu-ray technology. Hollywood has had a long-standing flirtation with 3D technology, but previous attempts at finding an audience for 3D have had mixed results. Viewers have often complained of 3D's reliance on colored glasses that gave images a strange and disjointed appearance as well as causing headaches and motion sickness. Now, 3D technology has evolved to the point where glasses using different colored lenses are no longer necessary. Today's 3D utilizes polarized lens technology that takes advantage of advances in liquid crystal technology allowing clear lenses and fewer unpleasant side effects. The demonstration room for Panasonic's new system consisted of their heralded 100" plasma, a surround sound system and a specially modified Blu-ray player. The demonstration began with footage of a team of BMX bikers performing various free-style routines. I was immediately floored by the depth and realism of the image. As the presentation continued, we were treated to the 3D effect on the Disney film Meet the Robinsons, a music video for a teen pop group and, finally, the opening ceremonies of the recent 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. As the demonstration progressed, it was clear that the crowd was witnessing a fully-realized technology and not some one-off publicity stunt. Panasonic 3D Blu-ray Technology I've seen many 3D presentations over the years - - mostly from the old and outdated system of colored lenses. I've never been a fan. However, this demonstration was something different. Previous 3D seemed to rely on special effects and gimmicks to place objects into the foreground of the image in order to make them "float" in front of the audience. While this demo had some of those same effects, I was most impressed by the depth of the image. Many will remember the amazing drumming performance from this year's Olympics that featured 2008 percussionists performing in perfect rhythm. Seeing this in 3D opened up the scale of the performance. As the camera panned across the seemingly endless sea of men, the image on the 100" Panasonic plasma seemed to expand without limits beyond the back of the demonstration room. It was as if the screen was several hundred yards deep. The effect was truly mesmerizing. After the presentation, I spoke briefly with a Panasonic rep about the technology used in the demonstration. He admitted that bringing 3D technology home would probably require a new investment in hardware - - both in the display and the Blu-ray player used. However, he didn't rule out the technology evolving to the point where existing Blu-ray and display technologies could be adapted to bring this exciting new experience home. As a side note, Disney has recently announced that every new animated film from both Disney Animation and Pixar would be exhibited theatrically in 3D. It looks like Blu-ray is, once again, the right format at the right time.
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Got2LoveGadgets  » Sep 30, 2008
Proper 3D at home would be amazing I will be first in line when these finally go on sale!

Sonny  » Sep 30, 2008
Panny on top again, gotta love um!

cdot2four  » Sep 30, 2008
Friday the 13th part 3 and Jaws 3 please.

fettastic  » Sep 30, 2008
So this is the same technology used in the new Samsung and Mitsubishi DLPs right? I'm assuming so. I have also heard there are several 3D BD's coming out later this year that will take advantage of this new technology and that PS3s will get an update to make it work on them.

digitalbabe  » Sep 30, 2008
Awesome, I love Panasonic already-and this just adds to it!:)

NoNeedF0RaName  » Sep 30, 2008
Not that I wouldn't love to see this "3D" effect at home, but if I have to buy new hardware and a new TV to support it, then I don't think I'll be jumping on the wagon for quite some time. I just bought my TV and Blu Ray player less than a year ago.

4K2K  » Sep 30, 2008
But how does it work? What standard are they using, what codec(s), and will it be compatible with whatever becomes 'the' 3D standard for Blu-ray (for software and hardware)? Aren't the groups still working on making a 3D standard (and other company's are trying to make their 3d standard the standard?)?

Ben  » Sep 30, 2008
I would assume that all the CE companies are vying to make their 3D tech the standard.

Snyder-man  » Sep 30, 2008
"bringing 3D technology home would probably require a new investment in hardware - - both in the display and the Blu-ray player used" No way 3D is something thats fun once or twice on a movie....but i dont want to watch every single thing i own in 3D, let alone buy a new tv and new player and new movies....nooooo thank you

SellmeyourDVD  » Sep 30, 2008
I would DIE if i could watch everything in 3D, just think about how amazing that would be!!! Even video games! Something like metal gear solid, madden 09, or even call of duty 4 would be completely MIND BLOWING in 3d. I will be on this bandwagon when and if it becomes available, most likely not for a LLOOOONNNGGGG time.

fettastic  » Sep 30, 2008

I think the idea is that 3D is a technology that is a selling point for new HDTVs and will eventually be standard. The technology as I understand it is that instead of a progressive image, the HDTV uses an interlaced one so that the opposing feilds have different perspective. That's not that big a deal but the breakthrough is with ther glasses. New LED and polarized technology allows the home viewer to experience IMAX-style 3D at home. How coudl that possibly be a bad thing?

fettastic  » Sep 30, 2008
Here's a lot more information on the new 3D technology: http://www.abt.com/product/32292.html

4K2K  » Sep 30, 2008

If the TV uses interlacing with one field going to one eye and the other going to the other eye, isn't that sort of halving the resolution? Wouldn't a better system use shutter glasses and send whole 1920x1080p frames to both eyes (a different image going to the left & right eyes - each eye getting a full HD frame at a rate of up to 72 fps). It would be even better if it supported multi-viewpoint or Free Viewpoint 3D.

haste  » Sep 30, 2008
meh, i dont want to wear stupid glasses everytime i watch.

gekke henkie  » Sep 30, 2008

The author of the article is incorrect, quote: "Today's 3D utilizes polarized lens technology". This is not true for Panasonic. Instead, they use the newer 'shutter glasses technology', please see: http://panasonic.co.jp/corp/news/official.data/data.dir/en080924-2/en080924-2.html @fettastic: you are right with this being "the same technology used in the new Samsung and Mitsubishi DLPs". So, if you already have a compatible DLP display (starting at about $1K), you only need to have this player (or already available external box) and a pair of shutter-glasses and you're good to go. @4K2K: you are right as well. Some 120Hz capable DLP's alternate full-HD images at 60Hz for each eye. By the way, Imax nowadays uses the older "polarized lens technology". The disadvantage of this is that each eye only sees half the lines/image, while as the newer technology alternates full-HD images for each eye respectively. The Blu-ray of 'Hanna Montana' and the upcoming Blu-rays 'Polar Express' and 'Journey to the center of the Earth' all use the oldest "red/cyan colored lens technology". The advantage of the latter is that everybody can see a 3D effect (glasses are included), without having to buy new equipment.

BluCheez  » Sep 30, 2008
All very cool. 3D on my couch would be a blast!

Minimejer05  » Sep 30, 2008
Real 3D is going to be amazing...

4K2K  » Sep 30, 2008
re: gekke's post In my post I was also talking about the 3D standard for how the content can be stored on the disc and decoded by the player, not just the display rate/method used by the TVs. 72p full HD for each eye might be slightly too much to ask for so I'd settle for specs that allow up to 60p full HD per eye + Multi-view/Free Viewpoint 3D using at least 6 picture streams

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